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Death raises concern that Denver boy in suitcase mystery unsolved

FILE -- Jan Churchwell holds a picture of Josh Churchwell at their house in Burlington on Wednesday, February 8, 2012. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Joshua Churchwell (Denver Police Dept.)

The parents of a 17-year-old boy whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase nearly two years ago fear that the death of another troubled teen could end their hope of finding out what happened to their son.

Anthony Ricardo Ford, 18, was brought into the Adams County Jail on Oct. 13 on drug, weapons and other charges, two days before his 19th birthday, according to Adams County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Paul Gregory.

He died sometime after his arrest. His death is under investigation. It isn't clear where the death occurred or how it happened.

"He was in our custody just prior to that occurrence," said Adams County jail Capt. Kurt Ester.

Josh Churchwell was attending Ridge View Academy, a school for children in the correctional system. He was a member of the school's wrestling team, and in January 2011, he slipped away during a match at East High School in Denver.

Ford, who also attended Ridge View, was with Churchwell when he walked out of East and got into a car with another teen. Denver police have told Churchwell's parents that their son and Ford stayed with a third teen at an apartment near Denver's Ruby Hill Park.

A group of boys found Josh's body in a trash-strewn lot near the park 12 weeks later.

Denver police won't discuss the death, which is still under investigation. His body was badly decomposed when found, and the cause of his death hasn't been determined.

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Burlington City Administrator Bob Churchwell, who adopted Josh after he was taken from his biological parents at age 3, said investigators have told him that they believe Ford knew what happened to his son.

One of Ford's family members said that police questioned the boy after Josh's body was found.

But police told Churchwell they had more questions for Ford and that they would have a chance to ask them when he wound up in an adult lock-up, something they were certain would happen.

As a juvenile, Churchwell said, Ford was able to avoid a thorough questioning.

"When they found Josh's body, they did talk to him a little bit, and his dad shut it down and wouldn't allow them to talk to him," Churchwell said.

Churchwell fears that Ford's death could further stymie an already stalled investigation.

"There may be a piece of that puzzle that is missing because of what he could have contributed if he was still alive," he said. "They felt strongly that he had some pretty good information as to what happened with Josh."

Churchwell said he can't forget an incident that occurred when Josh was at Ridge View.

His three roommates fashioned crude knives and practiced thrusting them into the undersides of their mattresses.

Josh told them to get rid of the blades within a week or he would turn them in, Bob Churchwell said.

When they refused, he made good on his word.

Bob Churchwell and his wife, Jan, visited Josh once a month at the school in Watkins and heard the story from a counselor. They worried he had become a target, especially after another boy stabbed him in the side with a pencil. Administrators told them not to worry, Bob Churchwell said.

Today, he wonders if Josh's break from Ridge View was engineered by others in order to get him to a place where someone could take revenge.

"There is always the concern that somebody set him up to where Josh would get out on the streets of Denver and then these kids took retribution," he said.